This past Thursday the University of Utah swimming and diving teams competed in the Art Adamson Invitational over the course of three days where Utah records were broken. The men’s team finished No. 2 overall, while the women earned a No. 6 place finish.
There were impressive performances across the board, including Paul Ungur, Ben Scott, Rodolfo Moreira and Jack Burton, who broke the relay record in the 200 medley for a second place finish with a time of 1:24.80. Liam O’Haimhirgin, Felix Chuin, Rahiti De Vos and Austin Phillips topped the 800 free relay with a time of 6:29.98. Cole Avery and Brody Lewis swam in the 400 IM finals, and Avery finished sixth overall and Lewis placed directly behind him.
Burton was pleased with how he raced at this meet. With the invitational held at sea level, he felt his races went smoother and that it helped him to swim faster. He credited his team’s success to the energetic atmosphere and his teammates encouraging one another on and off the pool deck.
For the women, Genevieve Robertson, Sarah Lott, Dorien Butter and Gillian St. John clocked in at time of 1:39.45 to earn a third overall finish in the 200 medley relay. The relay teams weren’t the only Utes to get recognized for their success in the water though. Emma Broome finished with the third fastest time in school history in the 100 back with a time of 54.18, and Lott clinched the fifth fastest time in Utes’ history in the 200 back at 1:59.69.
O’Haimhirgin won the 100 free, making his swim the second best in program history. In the 1650 free, Sarah McClendon recorded the school’s second fastest time at 16:23.15. Jordan Anderson recorded a personal best in the 400 IM with a time of 4:11.73, while Burton placed fifth overall in the 200 breast with a time of 1:56.81.
“I’m right where I want to be regarding fitness and how I feel in the water,” Burton said. “The speed elements for my races were there. It felt pretty good to swim fast times. It helps me with my mental standpoint, especially during this time of year.”
On the diving side of things, head diving coach Richard Marschner was proud of his team for their performances and what they brought to the table.
“We did really well. It was a really tough meet since we’re a really young team,” Marschner said. “We had a couple of top eight finishes, which was unexpected and really good to get. Jenner Pennock had personal bests on all three of his events, and he did really well in his first big meet, which was nice to see. Clare Greenlow did really well to make top eight on 1-meter and Nicole Ford had a great tower event, so those were definitely highlights.”
The diving teams will be in action at the Utah Diving Invitational that gets underway on Friday, Dec. 1 at 6:30 p.m. at the Ute Natatorium.
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